5 Month Old Refusing to Eat

Just be patient. A healthy baby will not starve himself. I've had a couple of my babies do this and I just don't offer them anything else until they nurse. Once he gets hungry enough, he'll be happy to nurse. I would be on the lookout for teeth, personally.

In the meantime, pump to keep your supply up. Oh...and if he suddenly decides he wants to nurse right after you've just pumped, don't be afraid to go ahead and nurse him. You body will make more. Milk doesn't store in the breast, at least the majority of a feed anyway. The early foremilk does, but the fatty, nutrient rich stuff is made as you are nursing and the lactating breast is never truly empty.

maybe he picked up a germ at the drs office, and is now having an ear infection. Is he old enough for baby tylenol? Maybe give him some and see if he wants to suck after it kicks in? Or maybe he is growing teeth and that hurts too! He could also be getting the stomach bug and feeling nauseus. Call your dr again if it keeps up.

You're getting great advice! I'll try not to repeat. Is it possible that you are pregnant? This can change the flavor of your milk, and baby becomes disinterested, but will sometimes nurse anyhow if they are very tired.

Do you have a lactation specialist? We are also in the Air Force, but I haven't had any babies here at Kirtland. The pediatrician may know how to get a referral for you. Or call women's health to see about getting a referral for a lactation specialist. I have received the best care at Women's Health over any other part of health services at Kirtland.

Allergies can also be an issue. My daughter had severe allergies that she outgrew, but while I nursed her I was off of wheat, dairy, and peanut butter.

Pray. :-)

Hope you figure it all out soon :-)

Hi M.,

I am a mom of a 6 1/2 month old and we are just coming out of a stage like that. It took us over 3 weeks and I think he is now starting to nurse better each time. It turned out that he had a tooth coming in, but it took over 2 weeks before we even started to feel it, let alone see anything wrong. It was pretty stressful for me, but I just tried to be patient and keep nursing as much as he would allow. I talked to our dr and a lactation consultant and both were very encouraging. Babies can lose their appetites when they are teething. I ended up pumping after each feeding to make it a total of 15-20 minutes of stimulation, to keep my supply up. (I also work, so I upped the pumping time at work as well) I would get worried about my little guy, but he seemed to be satisfied after eating (and sometimes he would only eat 2-3 minutes on one side and 2 on the other side), and would only fuss IF I continued to try to feed him. Just last week we finally felt a tooth coming in (and found out the answer to this lack of eating), and he is just now starting to eat a little more at each meal. Hang in there! I know it can be stressful, but as long as he seems to be satisfied and not hungry, then I would give it some time.

I'm not sure how long this has been going on, but I nursed both of my boys for over a year and a few things come to mind. Have you recently changed your diet at all? My boys did not like if I had drank orange juice or cow's milk. I had to buy Rice Dream to replace milk in my diet during nursing. Have you changed body soap? Actually my nursing consultant said it is important to not apply any soap to your nipples if you are nursing, it can dry them out. I found my first born noticed the taste of the soap and did not like it. Another thing might be your son is getting teeth in and nursing is uncomfortable. Also, try and relax while you are nursing. I had a problem with this once in a while and my milk would not "let down" as well. My younger son also preferred one side. Intoducing more baby food to his diet may also help. I hope something here will help you. Have you called a nursing consultant? I called the one at the hospital anytime I had a question, even when my boys were twelve months old. Your son's doctor might also be able to advise you. It took some adjusting in the beginning, but I found nursing my boys very bonding and rewarding. They are now ages three and five and rarely need to see a doctor. They have had only one ear infection between the two of them and I thank breast-feeding for this. Good Luck!

Maybe your milk tastes differently for some reason. Have you changed your diet recently? Could you be pregnant? I had a 3 month old who stopped wanting to nurse and then I found out I was pregnant.

is he stuffy at all? if he's congested and he can't breathe out of his nose this could have something to do with it!
it's allergy season, if you see discharge of "hear him breathe" (as in rattling) it could be he's having a hard time and he needs his mouth for breathing,

My baby is almost 5 mos. and we are having the same problem. In fact, I took him to the Dr. and he lost 2 oz. in two weeks. The doc said to supplement or pump, but he's not into the bottle. I was also told to bump up to 3 baby food feedings per day. Now I nurse in a quiet, dark spot and that helps. Good luck!

M., welcome to Arizona! A little bit about me, we are newly returned (August)...my husband was in the Air Force as well. We have three boys (6,4 and 5 months)...about your son not wanting to eat. I went through the same thing with my oldest son. When he started the whole tooth cutting process, he didn't want to nurse. In fact he went for a while without nursing or if he did nurse, for just a short while. I took advise from doctors as well as the LaLeche League (800.525.3243) they asked some pointed questions and gave some (in my case) insightful suggestions. I took his attitude (satisfied) even though he wasn't nursing his usual schedule. A couple of days passed and he returned to nursing as usual.
Take care....I hope your little guy gets back to normal very soon.
S.

Hi there, My name is N. and I'm a mother of two (4 year old son and four month old daughter). If your baby is teething then theres a good possiablity that, that's the issue. Here the name of a book that helped me ALOT!!! Its called "What to expect the first year" theres also another one called "What to expect toddler years'". These books help so much! Give them a shot!
~nikki~

Have you given him any other types of solid foods? If not, I would start on the stage 1 foods asap. Start with one new flavor every 3-5 days and you can even mix it with rice cereal and breast milk. Kids go through stages when their bodies don't need as much to eat and he may be in a down period. Also, he is old enough to offer him a sippy cup-the type with handles. He may play with it, but offer it with water in it. I am sure he is fine, his body knows what it needs...but I would try solids and start him on one meal a day for a week or so...then move to 2 meals etc. By the time my daughter was 6 months old, she was on stage 2 foods and eating 3 meals per day. I made all her baby food too! She is 15 months and eats everything but chicken(veggies and fruits etc.

Hi M.,
My sister went through this with her second child, it was hard but they got through it. Just keep offering your breast, don't start formula or the bottle he will get hungry and when he does make it quiet relaxing time for you both. Don't push or make abig deal out of it. He is getting to the age where he is thinking and testing you. Just watch for signs of something else going on like you stated in your request. Things should get back to normal in a couple of days. Good Luck! Oh ya my sister went through it a second time about a month later and the same things worked again.

My cousin's baby that I watch is the same age. He has a little ceareal when he gets here. After that he maybe drinks two bottles. And at times he nurses through out the night. it honestly sounds normal, plus like you have been hearing in the responses he could be teething.

It has been a while for me since I have nursed. But I remember the my children got to a point where they liked only one side. It also occured to me reading this, that babies sense stress or noise and that can interfere for them to relax in the time of eating. I would try to be as calm and quite as you can when introducing breast feeding. Is the child crying a lot as if he is hungry ? I think they get to a stage where they eat less as they gain weight. It could be that 4 feedings is plenty....if your suplementing other foods, he may not be as thirsty anymore.
I remember about 3 times a day, with food and once at night was fine...but maybe just check with your peditrician. It is also true in some cases that the milk flow is not as fast and they get frusterated as they wait for the let down... that may also be a reason. Check with your doctor......blessings.

My son did the same thing at 5 months, not wanting to breastfeed any more. I gave him a sippie cup, which he loved, and he started drinking from that. We just went on to other things. Kids are all different and we just have to accept their choices sometimes... He was fine, although you might reflect on whether your eating habits have changed, whether you're taking any medication, etc., that might come through in the milk...